Weep
for my humanity, for it is truly dead. I consider myself a
compassionate, empathetic human being, I really do. Then why am I no
longer shocked or even remotely repulsed by the Crossed? Why
am I no longer wincing as their fornicating, entrails unraveling
antics play out across the printed page? I must have become
desensitized to the mayhem and gore, although there is admittedly
less of it going on this time out. There are attempts at
characterization and commentary on the human condition in the
aftermath of the Crossed.

The
2013 Special saved the day as far as this book is concerned. I
was fairly underwhelmed by the first six issues collected in this
book, especially the artwork. Crossed needs beautiful artwork
to serve as a contrast to the gore. It should make you want to stop
and stare when you know that you shouldn't. That was the hook for me
when this series started several years ago.

The
OCD zone- These Avatar Press hardcovers are all Direct Market
exclusives.

There
are so many variant covers left uncollected. I would like to see a
Crossed: The Covers book with all of them in it. That would be cool.

Please
note that the cover image provided in this post isn't entirely
accurate- the actual cover has brown trim on it. I could not find an
image of it anywhere on the Internet. While I have scanned the covers
of the past few Crossed hardcovers myself I am too lazy to walk
downstairs and fire up my scanner right now, so you get this crappy
inaccurate stock cover image.

Hardback
cover notes:
No dustjacket. Image is printed on the casewrap, which has the
thickest lamination out of any comic publisher. The world would be a
better place if all hardcovers without dustjackets used this type of
lamination, as it is highly durable and resistant to scuffing.